Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo Recap!

I haven't been writing on my blog as much as I have wanted and I really want to apologize and say that, whew, it has been busy!  On top of being mommy, the dairy, kids sports, harvesting, marathon training, I flew out for Atlanta, GA last Saturday to attend FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo) on behalf of Monsanto and Americas Farmers.  I flew in on Saturday and my brother, who lives not far from Atlanta, picked me up at the airport and off we went to advocate for agriculture!

We got settled into our hotel, then went down to the hotel lobby to catch-up with each other over nachos and a beverage.  The couple that was sitting next to us, struck up a conversation and pretty quickly I learned I was sitting next to a vegetarian that was not a fan of Monsanto or farmers in general.  Needless to say, it was very interesting.  But, I did get some points across, listened to her concerns, and did my best to explain and educate.  So when we met up with the Monsanto Crew, I was a little nervous about the conference because if this little slice of conversation was going to set the tone for the weekend, I was not super excited.  But we went out to a fabulous restaurant, FloatAway Café, met the great people of Monsanto, discussed the plan for next few days, and even got to see a few celebrities:

My brother with Kurtwood Smith from various movies and television like 'That 70's Show'.  He was so nice to take a quick picture with us.  There was another celebrity there, but she refused to take a picture...

The next two days from 9am-3pm we worked the Expo.  Let me just say that Expo really doesn't describe how huge it was!  It was at the Atlanta Conference Center, and it was packed with companies, businesses, and people all there to talk about Food and Nutrition (who doesn't want to walk around and eat food all day long?).  When we first got there, I was astounded at the phenomenal booth set-up by Monsanto with visibly appealing pictures, information, and displays.  There were 3 computers ready for people to take a short quiz so they could get registered to win a prize (Coach Purse, Mini IPAD, or a $350 LuLu Lemon Gift Certificate), there were 5 different packets of Garden Seeds to hand-out so people could start a garden, and then 'CropPops' which were popiscles that were made directly from fruit and vegetables (my favorite was the Caramel Corn made with real corn!)  So my brother and myself jumped right in handing out Garden Seed Packets and then engaged people in conversation about gardening, crops, food, our dairy farm, nutrition for my kids, marathon training, or wherever the conversation would lead!  It was amazing the broad range of questions we got.  The Monsanto Crew had a wide arrange of people on hand from people who did Marketing, Social Media, a Crop Quality Control Specialist, scientists, plant biologists, and more so that whenever I got a tough question, I could go over to the person who specialized in that field, grab them, and they could answer the question with their knowledge and education.

We also got to walk around the Expo and sample all the amazing food, the new products coming out, met new companies, and then some of the large companies like, Subway:

And there were celebrity Chefs there to demonstrate and also sign their books, meet Chef Fabio:

It was really amazing walking around the Expo and taking in the whole experience, but the thing I loved most was:

Working the Monsanto Booth

This is Gayla, Sherri, and I working at the Monsanto Booth.   They brought Sherri, a soybean and crop farmer, and myself, a dairy farmer, down so that real farmers were represented at the conference!  I really have to applaud Monsanto, which is a seed company, so much for taking the initative to do this!  Having Sherri and I there, people really got to talk to farmers that actually grow their food for them.  We definitely met some amazing people, and answered a lot of questions!  Consumers today are very aware of food and nutrition and they really want to know exactly where their food comes from and that it is safe.  We had a lot of questions about Genetically Modified Crops (which I would go grab someone from Monsanto to explain), and are they really safe, and why do we grow them on our farm, how does it effect our cows, are our cows taken care of, how fresh is our milk, do we grow our own crops, and various other questions.  I was very proud to represent not just dairy farmers, but farmers as a whole, and we were able to explain, educate, and also dispel many misconceptions that people have about our industry.  My motto that I have taken on myself and my farm is "If you don't tell your story, somebody else will" and in the farming world I don't want people who nothing about my cows, my family, or my farm spreading lies and misconception about my industry.  I was very honored to be there and I hope that I did a good job putting a face to farmers everywhere.  The world is constantly changing and we as farmers, are changing with it.  It was incredible to be able explain how and why!  Thank you Monsanto for being so accommodating on the trip, allowing me to represent you and agriculture, and to experience such an amazing opportunity that I am very grateful and humbled.

A Weekend of Fun at the Wild Hog Marathon!

Wild Hog Half Marathon Runners (my dad, 2 brothers, myself, my mom, and great friend)

This last weekend we took a break from harvesting and corn chopping to drive up to Grand Forks to do a family tradition of running the Wild Hog Marathons.  The last few years my family has all participated at different levels and this year we had almost everyone there (except my husband who was stuck corn chopping and one brother and his family).

Corn Chopping was underway so my husband had zero chance in joining in the festivities

 But, lets back up.  The week before the marathon, my brother flew in to spend a week of "vacation" with us on the farm.  We spent the week running/training together (even a 20 mile run one day), shuttling kids to school and activities, working on the farm, homework, and all the things at are the "norm" in our lives.  One very special day, my brother put his army uniform on and we drove into my kids' school and he got the opportunity to speak to their classes about what its like to be a Captain in the U.S. Army.  Also that same day, my kindergartener had Parent Lunch so we all got to eat a school lunch together and reminisce about our childhood growing up.  It was a great week and we made lots of memories (and boy, do I mean lots...like almost starting the house on fire...)

My brother and his little heifer he named "Kardia" Greek meaning Heart (look at her forehead)

We drove up to Grand Forks on Thursday night so that my brother could run around on Friday and visit some of his old friends.  My kids and I went to meet up with my really good friend at Rhapsody Spa and Salon who decided to do something fun for me:

Yep, that is me with PINK hair!  Might as well do something fun and crazy for the marathon!

So after getting a new hairstyle, we headed over to the Wild Hog Kids Marathon for packet pick-up and also to enjoy in some of the activities they had on the schedule.  My friend signed all her nieces up and my kids were all running too, so here are a couple pictures of the fun:

The kids had fun games to play together before the Kids Marathon

My brother and I even got in on the fun activities- that was a workout!

All the kids joining in the fun!

Kids lining-up with their Adult Runners for Kids Marathon (half mile)

The Pig Squeal went off signaling the beginning of the race!

All the Kid Runners after they finished their race-proudly wearing their medals!

The 3 year olds decided that "their feet hurt" so we ended up carrying them most of the way...whew!!!

 The kids all had fun at the Kids Marathon.  Then it was time to go home, eat a nutritious supper, and get some good rest because all the adults were running the Half Marathon at 8 a.m. the next morning.

This is us walking to the Half Marathon starting line at 7 a.m.  The nervous jitters are starting...

Well we all got up, got our running attire on, laced up our shoes, and pinned our bib numbers on.  The weather was perfect, slight chill in the morning but still comfortable enough to not need a jacket.  We walked over to the race because parking was going to be a nightmare and it was only 1 mile from my parents house.  When we got there, did a last bathroom break, then lined up behind our Pacer that we were going to use to be able to finish in our goal times.  It ended up that my brother, my dad, and myself were right behind the 2:00 hour guy (my ultimate goal was to run all 13.1 miles in under 2 hours but I was not going to kill myself trying to do it because in one month I have the Full 26.2-mile Marine Corp Marathon).  I got my GPS set-up, my music started, laces checked, equipment checked, and waited through both the Canadian National Anthem and our National Anthem to hear the 'Pig Squeal'.  At exactly 8 a.m, there was the squeal and all the nervous runners advanced forward to the starting gate.  I had a great song from the 'Top Gun' soundtrack playing, my legs felt ready, had tons of energy, so I took off after the 2:00 pacer guy and kept him in my sights for the first few miles.  I easily settled into a rhythm and didn't have to run around too many runners to find a comfortable place in the pack.

There were spectators, cheerleaders, family, and friends that were lined along the race with creative signs to motivate their loved ones.  One that made me frustrated was around 2.5 miles it said "You are NOT almost done"...I actually groaned out-loud in frustration!  But, there were some really cute ones that made you laugh or took your mind off running for an instant (such as a little 3 or 4 year old girl who was cuter than anything was holding a bright pink sign saying "Run Faster, I Just Farted!"...(I had to pause and wonder if she actually knew what she was holding!) Or a great one towards the end was "Shut Up Legs!"

For the first couple of miles, I was a little worried that this pace (9 minute miles) was going to be too quick of a pace for me to maintain all 13.1 miles but I told myself "just keep the pacer carrying the white balloon in your sights".  I stopped at each water-break (every 2 miles), walked for about 10 seconds to drink my water and not spill it all over me, then had to sprint off to catch my pacer because he never stopped and walked.  There was quite a large group of runners that started the race off together with the hopes of finishing in a sub-2 hour time, but as we got to about 5 and 6 miles, the group was getting smaller and smaller until there was just a handful of us as we crossed the bridges into East Grand Forks.  My music was still motivating me, my legs felt good, and I didn't experience any fatigue yet so I just stayed on the heels of my pacer.  I also felt confident because the weekend before my brother and I did a 20 miler, so how hard was a 13.1 going to be?!?  ***Sidenote*** this is where training really pays off!  I had trained and experimented with my Gel Squeezes, my running attire, my music, whether to drink water or Gatorade, which headphones to wear, etc, on all my long runs in the past few months.  I knew at exactly 4 miles and 8 miles (which I have found is my optimum time) I needed to eat a gel squeeze, I knew how much water I had to drink at each station, I even knew what songs would be coming up on my playlist.  So I was reassured that I had everything I needed to run a good race.  Most importantly, I heeded all the advice of all the trainers/runners/experts/my family and didn't change a thing in my routine the day of the race.  Very, very important and something to keep in mind if you have never raced before.

About mile 10 was when the self-talk started.  I noticed my pacer look down at his GPS watch and must have noticed we were behind on pace because he started running faster and the GPS voice in my earphones said, "You are running 8.6 mph"!  I thought, holy moly, no wonder why it seems like I am having to work harder!  Before this moment, my thoughts were relatively quiet and calm.  I was enjoying the the weather, the environment, the fans, and just the morning in general.  But, mostly I was enjoying running without getting tired (I have had 4 babies and after each baby I could barely run 1 lap on a track, so for me to run this long and this fast is quite a long road of hard work!)  But, this was where the mental game started for me.  These were a few of the thoughts I had running through my head to try to keep me on my pacers heels:

You have made it this far at this pace, you can run for 3 more miles. 
Just 27 more minutes of running. 
You really aren't that tired. 
Look at that person over there, if they can do it, you can!
You are not a quitter.
You are 3/4 of the way done!
You are a machine, you are a machine, you are a machine, you are a machine!

It is almost amazing the thoughts that go through your head when you are in a race.  I know that when I have to do the Marine Corp Full Marathon that it will be a lot tougher to keep your self-talk positive and keep pushing yourself.  But, at mile 11 I told myself I had less than 20 minutes to go so I decided to creep up and run right next to my pacer instead of following him.  At this time, I turned my head and noticed that I was the only one left in his group!  So he and I ran stride-for-stride until just after 12 miles when I decided that I felt great enough that it was time to come in UNDER 2 hours so I started to elongate my stride and pull ahead of him.  This is where all my interval runs on the treadmill have totally paid off!  It trained me to sprint even when my legs feel heavy and tired.  As I turned the corner east on 47th Ave, in the distance I could see the Finish Line so I picked up my pace to finish in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 3 seconds:

Sprinting to the Finish Line in under my goal time!

Here is the rest of my family finishing:

My brother came in first in our group!  Great Job!

 My other brother crossing the finish line just behind me!  Awesome!

 My Dad crossing the finish line just after me!

My friend coming in faster than she did last year!  That's a PR!

My mom powering through to the finish line completing her first ever Half Marathon!  I have to give my brother a lot of props because he went back and picked every one up in our group and finished with them (not me...I was just behind him!)



So this race I set a Personal Record by almost 30 minutes (a few years ago we raced the Half Marathon in Fargo, ND right after I had my last baby).  Thank you Grand Forks Half Marathon- Wild Hog-for putting on such a fun and well-organized race!
I am so proud of my kids, my family, my friends, and myself for putting all the time and effort into training and running an amazing race!  It was a weekend where lots of memories were made and there is something to be said about a group of runners coming together, supporting each other through something that challenges not only your body, but your mind and spirit as well.  If you have never participated in a race before, I would highly recommend for you to jump on-line, do some research, and find one in your area that interests you and sign-up.  There are lots of races all over your state or country where you and your family can do something that is so memorable that you will all be proud of your accomplishments...and, BONUS, you even get a medal to hang on the wall...

...and maybe, quite possibly, if you run hard enough, even get carried home after the race!